The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1887-06-09

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for the reason that great many letter:
contain money. When money is found
in the letters, or, indeed. any inclos
ure, the openers are required to make
in 2 book provided for the purpose. ar
entry of the amount of money found
and the character of the inclosure, OF
whatever kind. This record passes
into the hands of other clerks, consti-
tuting system of cheeks, which expe.
rience has shown to be necessary, and
it is believed that there is no loss
through dishonesty of the employees.
The system has been the growth OF
years, and in the few cases that have
occurred in the past of dishonesty on
the part of employees, the weak points
in the system have been brought to
light and remedied. 1t is surprising to
learn how much money is yearly in
trusted to the mails, and, although the
number of such letters that find their
| way to the Dead-Letter Office is proba-
bly, only small proportion of the en-
tire number mailed, yet last year there
was received at the Office over So, 900
in letters Of this over S21, 200 was re-
stored to owners, nearly $4,000 re-
manned in the hands of postmasters
awaiting restoration, and over $4,000
could not be restored and was placed
in the United States Treasury, where it
remains for period of four years, SUBJ
ject to be reclaimed by the owners.
Perhaps the most interesting feature
OF the work of the Office is the treatment
of letters which are sent there because
of insufficient or incorrect addresses.
These letters represent for the most
part the carlessness and the hurry of
the American people. A business man
in this city, writing letter to an ac-
quaintance in Philadelphia, for example,
dashes off his signature at the close of
the letter, and, while directing the en-
velope, is thinking of the next subject
that demands his attention, and instead
of writing Philadelphia he scribbles off
the word ''city," as he does hundred
times day, supposing. of course, that
the majority of his letters are local He
does this the more readily if his cor
respondents address in Philadelphia
happens to be one of the numbered
streets. When the letter comes to the
Dead-Letter Office it is handed over to
a lady clerk, who has referred to her
over thousand of such letters each
day. By long practice with dealing
with such conundrums the address is
properly amended and the letter is
sent on its way again. Some people
drop letters into the office without
any address at all, others write the
address so illegibly and with such
disregard for the rules of orthography
that no one but an expert is able to de-
cipher the meaning. Mistakes of all
kinds are made in addressing letters.
The wrong State is given, or else the
wrong town, perhaps both town and
State are omitted. Some humorous
persons write out the whole address in
rhymed verse, and, like a good deal of
more pretentiOus verse-making, some
times it is possible to ascertain the |
authors meaning, and then again the |
eludes the most careful study. |
When it is considered that the COM |
bined carelessness and ignorance of the
entire country has daily and hourly
to develop an aptitude for
it is surprising that the
of such letters is not much
arger than it really is. But when
samples of this part of the mail bag of
he Dead-Letter Office are examined.
It is surprising to learn that ninety per
,ent. of the letters of this character
which are received each day and cor
'ected are delivered to the persons ad-
lreSsed.
When letters contain no Enclosures.
either Of money or merchandise, and
very method has been exhausted for
eturning them either to the writer or
he person addressed, they are bundled
ogether and sold for waste paper.
There are over 100000 letters and
parcels which are disposed of each year
n this way, and the revenue derived
rom the sale is turned into the Treas
Try, together with the money received
n letters for which no owner can be
ound. Last year there was nearly
5000 deposited in the Treasury on this
ccount. A visit to the museum of this ,
flee shows the manifold uses to which !
he mails are put in the transportation :
matter other than letters. In this ,
ollection, which preserves only the ,
lost notable objects, may be found
oots, shoes, coats, shawls, bed quilts.
oop skirts, rattlesnakes, horned toads,
loves, lace collars, photographs, ]
,welry. false hair, etc. The arti-
les received in the mails are
stained for two years, and then. G
not called for, are sold at public auc-
on. The sale last year realized over
5000. The system of keeping such a e
ast amount of matter together, with I
lie necessity of being able to produce 4
ny article called for in the mass of q
uf accumulated. involves very nice q
ethod of bookkeeping. The store a
'use is in the depths of the Post-office o
apartment building, in what might be p
'lled the catacombs, for the place is a
early all under ground. and the ar q
lngement of the labeled packages in Il
tile alcoves extending from the walls G
the ceiling justifies liking the place "
the catacombs q
u-: -. h